Disaster Averted: NFL Wants You to Know That NFL Isn't Fixed

Here's some news that's sure to reassure the degenerate gamblers/tinfoil-hat crowd: the NFL would like you to know that the NFL isn't fixed. Actually, I don't think any reasonable person ever thought game officials were on the take, just blindingly incompetent.

Maybe that's a reach -- there have been several high-profile blown calls this season and that hasn't helped the perception -- but the fact that Mike Pereira, the league's head of officiating, had to publicly state that there is no Tim Donaghy funny business going on is, if nothing else, an indictment on the quality of NFL officiating.

"There is not an official on the field whose background check is not current," [Pereira] said. "All sports reacted after the NBA situation and checked out people in that area. I don't think about what may or may not happen on the gambling front, but more why it's not right on the field and how we can get it right."

Hey, I'm with that: getting the call right seems like a brilliant idea. And I fully recognize that the speed of the game can make an official's job nearly impossible. But if that's the case, why not fashion the rules in such a way so that the missed calls can be easily overturned. The unintended consequences of Ed Hochuli immediately come to mind. And although Scott Green's initial call on the field was the right one, his crew somehow managed to talk him out of it. Sounds like a job for the booth review team.

For the most part, I have no issues with the officials, and it's not something that'll be magically solved by a bunch of arm-waving or making them full-time employees. It's a tough gig, I get that, and there will always be mistakes. But why not give them the opportunity to make the right call instead of burying them under arcane rules and senseless minutiae?

Or the league can continue on their current course and spend a few hours each week refuting the charges that they're on the take. Which would go a long way in explaining this.